Striking the Rock Again

Please consider the story of Moses and the rock:

Exodus 17:6
Behold, I will stand before you there upon the rock in Horeb; and you
will smite the rock, and there will come water out of it, that the
people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of
Israel.

Numbers 20:8
Take the rod, and gather you the assembly together, you, and Aaron your
brother, and speak you to the rock before their eyes; and it will give
forth his water, and you will bring forth to them water out of the
rock: so you will give the congregation and their beasts drink.9 And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him.10
And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock,
and he said to them, Hear now, you rebels; must we fetch you water out
of this rock?11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he
struck, the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the
congregation drank, and their beasts also.12 And the LORD spoke to
Moses and Aaron, Because you believed me not, to sanctify me in the
eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you will not bring this
congregation into the land which I have given them.

Deuteronomy 32:51
Because you trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the
waters of Meribah-Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because you
sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel.52 Yet you will see the land before you; but you will not go thither to the land which I give the children of Israel.

Moses and Aaron are two witnesses under the ministry of the law. The rock is Christ according to Paul:

1
Cor 10:4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they
drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was
Christ.

John 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

Moses is the minister of law. Christ Jesus is the minister of grace.

These things happened as prophetic warnings to us:

1
Cor 10:11 Now all these things happened to them for examples: and they
are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are
come.

Striking the Rock is a symbol of crucifying Christ - a sacrifice which had to occur under the law, but
only once.

Mat
26:31 Then Jesus said to them, "All of you will be made to
stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: 'I will strike the
Shepherd, And the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'

Hebrews 6:4
For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have
tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the age to come,6
If they will fall away, to renew them again to repentance; seeing they
crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open
shame.

Please don't get the wrong idea here - Of course
Moses will enter the true promised land - God was only using him as a
warning example. What does this "promised land"
foreshadow in the spiritual realm? The above scriptures from Hebrews show that
it is much more than a free
"ticket to heaven". Christ cannot be crucified again - Physically He
is not even on Earth presently. But He said this in an end times
parable:

Matt 25:40 And the King will answer and say to them,
Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you have done it to one of the least of
these my brothers, you have done it to me.

The above statement
establishes the principal that doing something to a brother of Christ
is the same as doing it to Christ. It also leads to three corollaries of these facts that apply to God's people:

Whoever strikes the Rock again (crucifies Christ again by harming one of His brothers) will not enter the promised land.

Whoever
lives solely by law (Moses is the type.) cannot enter the promised
land. (Yes, this means those without oil.)

Whoever fails to make God's holiness clear to His people will not be allowed to lead them into the promised land.

Matthew -

18:6
But whoever will offend one of these little ones which believe in me,
it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and
that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

Romans 3:

8
And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm
that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is
just.20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there will no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

Why
did Moses strike the Rock twice when he was told to speak to the Rock?
God said that Moses failed to believe His promise that speaking to
the rock would produce water. Moses knew that striking the rock
produced water the first time so he followed the old pattern and struck
the rock. No water. Strike it again. Water. God allowed this to
happen as a warning to us according to Paul but why did He allow Moses
to strike the rock twice? Consider this scripture about the two
witnesses from the end of this age:

Rev 11:5 And if
any man will hurt them, fire proceeds out of their mouth, and
devours their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in
this manner be killed.

These
two witnesses are martyred after 3 and 1/2 years of ministry and in
death as in life they follow the pattern of the Lord Jesus:

Rev 11:11
And after three days and an half the spirit of life from God
entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear
fell upon them which saw them.

The two witnesses represent the transition
from the age of grace to the age of the Kingdom. The
ministry which the two
witnesses represent is not like
that of the apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers, and pastors of
the age of grace. The similarity of their ministry to that of Christ
Jesus tells us they are from the promised overcomers who are
"like Him" and will eventually replace the old ministries. This
implies a temporary overlap and division between the old and the
new ages. The response to the message
of the two witnesses will result in one of two desires: receive
the message or kill the messengers. It is clear
that those who wish to harm
the two witnesses will not enter the promised land.

The Key of David

What is the mysterious
"Key of David" which Christ Jesus speaks about?

Revelation 3:7
And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things
says he that is holy, he that is true, he that has the key of
David, he that opens, and no man shuts; and shuts, and no man
opens;8 I know your works: behold, I have set before you an
open door, and no man can shut it: for you have a little
strength, and have kept my word, and have not denied my name.9
Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they
are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to
come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved
you.

The most remarkable thing about the life of David is not
killing Goliath or all the other marvelous things he did. It is
something that he spoke about often and followed even at risk of his
own life:

I Sam 26:9 And David said to Abishai, Destroy him
not: for who can stretch forth his hand against the LORD's anointed,
and be guiltless?

David
refused to take any action against Saul
even though David was God's anointed because he knew that
Saul was God's anointed also. Not once but many times. This was true
even though Saul was often controlled by an "evil spirit":

I Samuel 18:

10
And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil
spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the
midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at
other times: and there was a javelin in Saul's hand.11
And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite
David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of
his presence twice.

This pattern of the old anointed ones trying
to kill the new anointed ones has been around since Cain and Abel. As David pointed out
though, you cannot touch the Lord's anointed and remain righteous. David
refused to open a door that God had not opened for him. Even after Saul
was dead, David ruled Judah in Hebron for seven years until God
moved the rest of Israel to reject Saul and accept David as king. David would not take
what God had not yet given him.

To be clear: The Key of David is a holy patience and faith
which will die before opening a door that God has not yet opened. What
is opened or shut with the Key of David cannot be shut or opened by
man. Christ Jesus alone has perfected this key.

Conjunction

In any "civil war" among the people of God those who bear the sword against a brother will be found guilty before God.
In time God will bring those who fight Him into submission or remove them. What is there to lose? Some may consider
being judged by the fire a trivial thing but we know
in our hearts that any part of us that fails to submit to Christ
Jesus will not survive the fire of God.

What
about the two witnesses killing
those who oppose them? Is that a violation of the Key? Jesus
miraculously handled attempts to kill Him before His 3 and
1/2 year ministry was completed. Peter spoke from his
mouth the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira but later died on a cross. The
two witnesses do
not defend themselves but rather the holiness of the message and
ministry
given to them. They do not use weapons but words
anointed with fire until it is time to lay down their lives
just as the Lord did.

Ultimately these
things speak of Jesus defeating Satan on the cross not by
fighting back but by letting Himself be slain so that God could open a
door of life which could never be closed. They speak of
the process that will eventually replace the first man (Adam)
with the
new man (Christ) just as David finally replaced Saul. But for
this moment they are a
strong warning about the end times battle we now face. These things
are a test that God has determined.
Just as the conflict between David and Saul brought David his mighty
men, so too will this time bring Jesus His mighty men. The child
that God is about to bring forth is without mixture and is from the
kingdom age and is glorious and will be hated by many. Whoever touches
the Lord's anointed will lose much. There is a time and a season when
Christ's brothers must bear the sword. But now is not the appointed
time.

Matthew -26:51
And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand,
and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest's, and
struck off his ear.26:52 Then said Jesus to him, Put up again your
sword into his place: for all they that take the sword will perish with
the sword.

Rev
13:10 He that leads into captivity will go into captivity: he that
kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the
patience and the faith of the saints.